Fantastic Four: Wildfire
by Ghost Rider1
Summary: I'm done the series! If you are looking for chapter 4 its under a new heading called Fantastic Four: Volcanic. I thought more people would see it that way. Read these first though, if you already haven't.
1. Default Chapter

The siren wailed from the speakers along the tops of the walls. "Man it sure stinks to be handlin' dese robberies like in da old days," Ben grumbled from below.  
"Well if you stopped whining," Johnny scolded, "you would realize that its because we've done such a good job defeating villains that we aren't needed for anything more than the occasional crime now." A smile came to Johnny's face as he realized what he just said. They had in fact done a great job fighting their enemies. These small time crimes were much easier to stop. Just about every robber, mugger, and murderer in the city pretty much fainted when Ben Grimm steps out from the shadows. A flying man on fire was just as intimidating. There was not much to the common superhero business.   
As of late, the Fantastic Four had triumphed over every super-villain who dared to set foot in their city. They even wiped out their most powerful nemeses. The city was peaceful now, and aside from the occasional attempt at breaking the law, all was quiet. Reed turned to another form of live saving and took up work searching for cures for diseases. He was an accomplished scientist and he was now very close to developing a pill that would completely wipe out skin cancer. Susan was always devoted to him and followed him wherever he went. Their frequent trips to the rainforest in search of cures actually gave her a new hobby. Her power of invisibility made it remarkably easy for her to observe animals in the wild. The city had no more need for them, so Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman left the safety of the city up to Johnny and Ben. Instead of the Fantastic Four it was now just the Terrific Two, though Ben never really agreed to the name.   
The Human Torch blazed down the hallway with Thing pounding after him. Rushing past a number of unconscious guards, they turned the corner to see some terrified employees in lab coats running out of a doorway and past them. They shouted things to the heroes as they passed, but neither of the two could understand a word of it. One man ran out much more calmly and stopped to inform the duo of the situation.  
"They're after the electromagnetic pulse emitter. Its powerful, enough to shut down the whole country, maybe the world, and god knows where they are taking it." The scientist began to run and shouted, "They're down the hall in Lab 74e and they have big guns. Hurry up!" The big orange rock looked to the flying flamethrower and laughed.   
"Guns! Well I guess we know what dat means...." Johnny cut him off before he could continue.  
"Yeah, it's clobberin' time, I know, it's been done Grimm." Ben's smile went to a frown and his head dropped in mock sadness. Thing began to tiptoe down the hall as best he could with Johnny gliding afterward. They came up to the lab and stopped, one on each side of the door.   
"Should we knock," Johnny asked with a smile, "or just go right in?" He winked at Ben and Ben answered by cracking the enormous knuckles on his right hand.   
"Shut up," the robber shouted at the blubbering scientist. He turned to the crying man and firmly kicked him in the back, sending him onto the floor face down. The three scientists were kneeling with their hands behind their heads.   
"Now one of you is going to have to tell us the combination to that vault or all of you are going to die," said a second robber. He raised his weapon to her temple and continued his verbal assault. "I think little Suzy Homemaker over here doesn't want to die too. I bet she has a husband and three kids, probably a nice house, and maybe even a cute little dog too." Before he could finish the sobbing woman burst forth into new tears. Between sobs she said seven numbers, and simultaneously another robber punched them into the keyboard on the thick lead door. No sooner had the red light flashed on the keypad then the door behind them came crashing down.   
"Aw look, we weren't invited to the party," Torch said mockingly. He noticed the three men with their guns on the scientists, the two who ran into the vault, and the remaining two who were aiming at them. "That makes seven in all," he thought to himself.   
"I hate not bein' invited ta parties, so we decided we'd crash it," growled Thing with a grin. He looked to Johnny and nodded at the hostages.  
"Oh look, it's the flying matchstick and the Hulk wannabe," mocked one of the robbers, probably the leader. "These guys here seem to be attached to their lives, so if you try anything, the nerds will go bye-bye." The two robbers in the safe brought out a big metal device with wires and tubes and dropped it by he window. They pulled in two wires and secured it to the electromagnet. They lifted it out the window and jumped on as it was hoisted up.   
"No! I should have seen those wires over there!" Johnny yelled inside his mind. Instantly he formed a plan and hoped Thing would know what to do. He shot a small blast of heat at the three gunmen with the hostages. The three fell back instantly, and went down hard. Thing went for the other two while moving towards the window. He grabbed one in each massive hand and brought them over to the window, slamming them into the wall. He looked out and yelled to Johnny.  
"Dere gone slim! You can still nail 'em though!" shouted Thing. Johnny flew over to the window and cursed. Suddenly behind them a gunshot rang out. As they wheeled around they saw a scientist lying face down in a pool of blood. The robber then shot the two remaining hostages. The Human Torch screamed in fury. He erupted in blinding flames. In a flash he was over at the murderer and had his fiery hands wrapped around the man's throat and was shouting at him. Benjamin Grimm could only watch in horror as Johnny Storm took out his anger....  



	2. Glowing Ashes

"So how is he now, Ben?" asked Reed, wearing a look of concern. Ben told him the whole story.   
"He's gonna have a mighty big bump on his noggin," grumbled Ben, "but other than that he should be fine."  
"Well I want you to have him call me as soon as he wakes up. As for this electromagnetic pulse emitter, I don't like the sound of it. They stole it from PolarTech, right? Well they've been working on a big electromagnet, and from what I hear the pulse can wipe out every electronic device on the planet when it's directed at satellites. It bounces the pulse off them right before taking them out. Well keep me posted Ben. Sue and I may have to fly in."  
"Alright Stretch, see ya." Ben clicked off the video screen and stared blankly for a moment. The events that just took place were like a nightmare he wanted to forget.   
Johnny just began attacking the man. He wrapped his hands around the man's neck and wouldn't let go. The worst part is that he was completely in flames while he did it. Ben desperately tried to pull Johnny off the man, but his palms were turned to charcoal before he could get a decent grip. He didn't want to hurt the kid, but he had to stop him. He folded his hands and bashed him on the top of the head, not too hard, but just enough to put him down. Johnny collapsed and returned to his normal state. Grimm had fled the scene with him right as the police began to show up.   
The demented look in Johnny's eyes was terrifying, and the image of the man burning... it was just too much for Ben to bear. He shook his head and turned away from the screen. Before calling Reed he talked to the district attorney. Lucky for them she said that there wasn't a judge in the state that would convict Johnny of wrongdoing, especially after all that the Fantastic Four has done for the city. Very lucky. After that he called Reed because he didn't know what else he should do.   
"I wish Reed was here, the guy always knew how to keep ya from feelin' scared," Ben thought to himself. He was worried about the piece of machinery that was stolen, and terrified of what Johnny was like, but there was something even more surprising about the whole incident. After Torch flipped, the whole room was lit up like a bonfire. It wasn't like he just lost control, but instead the heat that he was producing was overpowering. Ben could barely stand it, and he was made out of rock. The strength of this heat was unlike anything he had ever seen come from Johnny, and he had known him since he got his powers. It was almost as if he had unleashed a power he couldn't control. It seemed that all this time he had this incredible force inside him and never knew it was there. His anger must have been what released it. The lab looked like it was hit with some napalm. It was unlike anything he had ever seen.   
The scariest part is that it seemed like Johnny wasn't done. When Ben knocked him out he was still powering up. If he hadn't taken him out when he did, than he might not have been able to stop him. The door slid open behind him and Ben snapped out of his trance. Johnny stood in the doorway holding his head, looking as if he had just gone ten rounds with Evander Holyfield.   
"How ya feelin' kid," Ben asked. He could already tell what the answer was going to be, but he decided to see what he could get out of the kid.  
"Ouch... not too great. Did you catch the number of the bus that hit me?" Johnny asked jokingly. As he forced out a laugh he chest heaved and it felt like everyone one of his ribs was broken. His body ached just about everywhere. "How long have I been asleep?"  
"Not too long, actually I was expectin' you ta sleep for the next few days after what just happened. Do ya remember what happened Johnny?"   
"Well... I remember losing that big magnet thing, but that's about all I can recall." Actually Johnny remembered everything that happened last night. He recalled every startling and horrifying detail of his rampage. He just didn't want to talk about it, so he lied to Ben.   
"Nothin' huh? Well Reed wants you to call him in a little while, your sis is really worried about ya'. As for me, I'm gonna go take a nap, I'm beat." Ben shuffled past Johnny and down the hall to his bedroom. Johnny walked over and sat in front of the huge screen. He fingered the button for a moment, debating whether or not to call Reed and Susan right away. He finally pulled his hand back and decided that he should go for a walk first, to gather his thoughts.   
Johnny walked over to the window and flamed on. He was shocked to see that his flame was not much more than a warm glow. He figured that maybe it was a side effect of this greater power he experienced. Maybe he needed to recharge for a while.  
Johnny walked down the hall, grabbed a jacket, and headed out the door. He walked for an hour, trying to rid his brain of the robber's terrified face as he burned to death. After some time he realized he was feeling much better. He flamed on and soared up in the sky. He was still a little sore, and his fire was not at its usual strength, but it was enough for now.  
Johnny's thoughts turned to this new power he contained and he was ashamed to admit that it excited him. He wasn't sure how it worked though. He used it before and he woke up feeling like he took a thirty-story fall. Johnny knew he had to be careful, or it could cause him some serious damage. All his meditation was cut short by a voice from behind him.  
"Torch, there you are," shouted a flying man clad in black and white armor. His rockets powered down and he landed on the nearby roof. Johnny turned off his flame and jumped down next to the stranger he quickly recognized as War Machine.   
"Hey, I can't say I expected to see you here," remarked Johnny, "What's the problem?"   
"I've been trying to get in touch with you guys. I think we have a major situation here!"  
  
Chapter 3 soon to come...  
  
  



	3. New Sparks

Johnny could tell that War Machine was upset without even seeing his face.   
"I've been trying to get in touch with you guys. A hi-tech group of robbers broke into Stark Enterprises. Tony's been working on a new form of power. He's developed a new synthetic metal alloy that is a sort of superconductor. It takes electric energy and magnifies it tenfold. The only problem with this is that it can concentrate the power of a laser too, and the laser becomes incredibly strong, stronger than you can imagine. Tony estimates that it could reduce a city to dust, and the surrounding areas for ten miles would be leveled as well."   
"Whoa whoa, okay, so what does this have to do with me?" asked Johnny, not trying to sound too impatient. He was always willing to help, but he had too much on his mind to concentrate right now.   
"They were probably the same guys that stole the EMP emitter from PolarTech! Come on Torch, think about it! This could spell out some serious trouble!"   
"Oh man," Johnny thought to himself, "He's right, if someone uses these things together, it could really do some damage. After the EMP emitter cripples the world's power supply, we'd have no way of stopping any attacks. Looks like Ben and me are going to be working overtime. But Ben is probably better off without me; I'd probably only end up hurting innocent people or something...."  
"Hello!" shouted War Machine, "Snap out of it Torch, we gotta get back to your place and talk to Reed! Let's go already!" War Machine leaped into the air and fired the rockets on his boots.   
Johnny looked sadly at the ground feeling a sense of hopelessness and despair. He couldn't control anything around him. He couldn't even control himself. He would just be in the way again, and someone would probably get hurt. War Machine dropped down beside him with a THUD!   
"Look Torch, I don't know what your problem is, but get it in gear! I know about the situation with the robber. Don't worry about it. We all make mistakes, and we all do things we regret. It's just a part of life. The thing about it is that you are given the chance to correct that mistake. You are a hero, you've saved tons of lives, and you will be able to redeem yourself. The time will come. Don't worry. Now let's get going!" War Machine again jumped straight up and fired his rockets, this time waiting for Torch to follow. Johnny looked up and grudgingly followed.   
  
  
*******************  
  
The hulking figure strained to roll over in his bed. He stared at the video monitors against the wall and let out a long wheeze. The figure shuttered as he sputtered and coughed; he now needed effort to do a simple thing like taking in a breath. He had been struggling for life for the last year, and in recent weeks his condition had steadily deteriorated. In the farthest monitor a tiny figure clad in white walked over to a table and picked up the phone. Immediately the phone on the bedside table rang out, almost obtrusively. The sickly man reached one metal arm over slowly and answered the phone.  
"Wha-- What is-- is it--," the man struggled to say the three words without coughing again.  
"Dr. Doom, we have the EMP emitter lined up with the orbiting satellite and we are ready to fire. Your airship with the laser is already a few miles off the eastern seaboard. We await your command to commence with the project."  
"Good," he managed to spit the word out, but not without unleashing a string of seemingly unending coughs. Doom reached over and turned the valve on the oxygen tank, holding the mask up to his face. Watching the mask fog and defog, Doom thought about the way his career as a supervillian was ending. The Fantastic Four had defeated him continuously, and the string of losses was starting to take its toll. Their last battle had destroyed most of his assets, along with his castle. Doom had personally fought that big orange rock beast, Thing, and nearly ended up dead. He wished he had died there, at least with some honor, because the massive chest injuries he received have reduced him to this pathetic invalid. This time though, as he passed on, he was going to give the world one last goodbye and take the whole despicable planet with him. With his last traces of strength, Doom reached back over to the phone and lifted it to his ear.   
"Kill the--- kill all of them..." Doom dropped the receiver and all the air rushed out of his body. His chest sank, and this time was not followed by the usual, laborious rise. The legend was over.  
On all the video monitors the little figures began to move frantically and then stand still. In the middle screen a bright wavy beam shot upward toward the sky.   
  
***Still to come is the conclusion to this story! Doom is dead, but the world is not safe. What can Ben and Johnny do about all this? Will Johnny stop moping long enough to help out, or will it be left up to Thing and War Machine? What's with Torch's strange power? Oh man I'm over-stimulated... alright well I'm working on the end right now. It'll be up in a few days!!!  
  
  



End file.
